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Researching the American South: Background Information

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Several major encyclopedias about the American South are listed here. You can also search for encyclopedias in the catalog, for instance: NASCAR encyclopedias.

Dictionary of American History, 3rd ed.
Call Number: Davis Library E174 .D52 2003 v.1

Online Access
New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
Call Number: Davis Library F209 .N47 2006
Davis Library Reference F209 .N47 2006
Undergrad Library Reference F209 .N47 2006
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
Call Number: Davis Library Reference F209 .E53 1989
Undergrad Library Reference F209 .E53 1989
The Encyclopedia of Southern History
Call Number: Davis Library F207.7 .E52
Undergrad Library Reference F207.7 .E52
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History
Call Number: Davis Library E185 .E54 2006
Stone Center Library Reference E185 .E54 2006

Online Access
Encyclopedia of Religion in the South
Call Number: Davis Library Reference BR535 .E52 2005
North Carolina Collection CR203 E56h 2005
The Companion to Southern Literature: Themes, Genres, Places, People, Movements, and Motifs
Call Number: Davis Library Reference PS261 .C55 2002
Undergrad Library Reference PS261 .C55 2002

Atlases

The Routledge Historical Atlas of the American South
Call Number: Davis Library G1281.S5 F7 1999
Davis Library Reference G1281.S5 F7 1999
The Routledge Atlas of African American History
Call Number: Davis Library Reference E185 .E125 2000
Stone Center Library Reference E185 .E125 2000

Biographical Resources - Online

American National Biography
The successor to the Dictionary of American Biography and a major resource for American biography. The American National Biography highlights the lives of over 18,000 persons who have been important and influential in the history of the United States, from the early days of European exploration to the present.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: Early America to the present
Oxford African American Studies Center
Provides online access to The African American National Biography which contains 4,000 biographies and 1,000 images of notable black Americans. Select 'Biography Search' from the left-hand column to search The African American National Biography.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.

Dictionary of North Carolina Biography
The most comprehensive biographical source for the State of North Carolina. Online access is available for each volume individually. Print version also available at many campus libraries.
North Carolina People, Places, and Things
This search provides citations to books, pamphlets and newspaper clippings about people, places, book reviews, businesses and issues that relate to North Carolina.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Points to places to find biographical information for over 5 million people, living and dead. Biography and Genealogy Master Index indexes various editions of over 700 biographical reference sources, both current and retrospective, that cover historical as well as contemporary figures.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
HeritageQuest
Using scanned images of actual census records, called "census schedules," you can search by name and limit to year and location. Decennial censuses from 1790 to 1820 and from 1860 to 1930 are included, though not necessarily complete at this time. You can also search for family information contained in 24,000 books and 2.1 million articles. Microfilm versions of "census schedules" for Southern States are available in Davis Microforms Collection, 1-2327.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users. North Carolina residents with a borrower's card may access from off campus by visiting NCLive directly. Contact the Davis Library Service Desk for the NCLive password (instructions).
Literature Resource Center
Contains over 100,000 author biographies. Once you enter the database, click the 'Advanced Search' tab and select 'Dictionary of Literary Biography' in the 'Database' field.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users. North Carolina residents with a borrower's card may access from off campus by visiting NCLive directly. Contact the Davis Library Service Desk for the NCLive password (instructions).
Coverage: Classical Period to Present
Marquis Who's Who on the Web
Provides biographies for over 1.4 million people of note, primarily from the United States.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 1985 to present

Last Updated: May 23, 2018 10:48 AM
URL: https://guides.lib.unc.edu/americansouth

Subjects: African-American Studies, American Studies, History, United States History

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Researching the American South: Background Information

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